Whether it's a Creamery craving or a tantalizing Thai dinner, Penn State offers a plethora of eating options. With a few clicks of a mouse, students can discover what's hot and what's not in the restaurant scene -- straight from the mouths of their peers.

Eats.com is a Web site that combines social networking with restaurant reviews, and recently added a section for reviewing restaurants in State College.

"The No. 1 source that people use for restaurant recommendations is their friends," said Eats Media Group CEO Joe Ariel.

The site the New York Times called "facebook for foodies" allows users to read and write reviews of both restaurants and individual dishes.

"That's really the whole point of the Web site. You don't have to rely on your one friend for reviews; you can rely on the whole campus," eats.com representative and "foodie" Eric Singer (sophomore-economics) said.

A "foodie" is "someone who's a dining enthusiast -- someone who doesn't just eat what's in their past [but] goes out of their way to find different restaurants and different dishes that might not be the most convenient and is passionate about seeking new, interesting [food]," Ariel said.

Josh Kirwin (sophomore-nursing) said he feels everyone is a "foodie" in some way.

The Penn State network has 300 to 400 registered members who read about and review 86 local restaurants, and there are 2,000 to 3,000 unregistered users in State College, Ariel said.

Singer and Kirwin are trying to extend its reach.

The two "pretty much built the entire Penn State Web site," which they think is especially helpful for freshmen, Kirwin said.

The social networking aspect makes the site different, and users can make a wish list of where they'd like to eat for others to see, Singer said. The site also includes a "foodie news" section.

"Restaurants are the new Broadway," Ariel said. "Going out to dinner used to be a side aspect to the whole experience, but now it's really the focal point of the evening."

Kirwin, who said his Lionmenus.com rewards points are "significant," added eats.com offers the "ability to see what you're ordering."

"Just because it's $1 for 35 wings doesn't mean they're going to be any good," he said. "We're college students; we want to spend our money in the right places."

Eats Media Group also produces a magazine, and Singer said he will stay in State College this coming summer to work on a Penn State version.

"We have to start somewhere so this is kind of our beginning," he said.